- What’s $25 worth these days? Not much I hear you say, and normally I’d agree with you. But not when Sjooshi get around to putting on party. Three A-grade international DJs, a top-quality MC, and few locals thrown in to round out a night make for perfect example of value in ticket buying. The main headliners for the Cup Eve festivities at Brunswick Street’s First Floor were Nu:Tone and MC Wrec, but the show got bigger with last minute additions of Urban Takeover records artists Aphrodite and Mickey Finn back-to-back old school sets. Nu:Tone championed Hospital Records’ modern ‘Liquid Funk’ sound, demonstrating the future direction of drum’n’bass, while Aphrodite’s set was filled with classic jungle sounds that clearly represented where DnB has come from.
The queue was already well established when I rolled up to the venue somewhat before midnight, fortunately those who’d had the foresight to purchase tickets at Sjooshi’s website beforehand had priority and I was inside and being stamped with an ad for the Jazz Bop vs Hiphip Festival within five minutes.
Once upstairs First Floor was buzzing, with people relaxing on the couches, standing three deep around the bar, and busting out moves on the dancefloor. DJ Motive, one of the major players in Melbourne’s DnB scene, was sharing his set with DJ Sean and together they were rolling out a middleweight selection that kept the crowd moving. By this point, First Floor was already rather stuffy though this didn’t really discourage the dedicated dancers up the front who were determined to strut their stuff.
At 12:30 sharp MC Wrec and Nu:Tone took to the stage and started rolling out the funky rhythms that the crowd wanted from them. The lightweight, cruisey sounds that characterise Nu:Tone’s production sound were in plentiful supply, while Wrec proved a competent MC, keeping the vibe focussed on the music. Nu:Tone’s selections stayed fairly low-key for the first hour (as Wrec put it: “This ain’t drum’n’bass, this is fast soul music!”) then went slightly heavier in the second hour, before finishing off with some Hospital classics such as the Zero Tolerance remix of Spread Love. Wrec had scored big points with the crowd with plenty of rhymes and toasting, as well as by playing off the classic Sydney/Melbourne rivalry (the Melbourne party was better, of course). The one thing that held the crowd back was the heat and humidity inside the venue, which was staggering.
Nonetheless Aphrodite stepped up the stage at 2:30am the crowd was still ready to party, though it was interesting to watch as many of the front-row crowd took a breather and there were definitely a few more hardened junglists stepping up. Aphrodite wasn’t about to disappoint either, opening the set with some classic Jump Up sounds. His sound has been criticised by some for being rather predictable, and while the tracks had huge build-ups and weren’t ashamed to drop big basslines exactly where you’d expect them, the crowd loved it. Aphrodite’s set was somewhat of a time machine, going further back as it went on, so despite a few newer tracks getting thrown in from time to time (such as a mix of MC Tali’s Lyric On My Lip), the set became increasingly representative of the classic jungle sound.
The crowd were also classic junglist fare; friendly without being overly loved-up, the vibe in the room really seemed to be focussed on the music, and since it maintained such a high standard throughout the night everyone was having fun. Aphrodite really seemed to be enjoying himself too, smiling at each reaction from the crowd. By this point the heat in the venue had gotten even worse; everyone on the dancefloor was slick with sweat and Aphrodite’s shirt was literally saturated.
Then all hell broke loose with a brilliant half-hour of classic old school moments. Every single tune produced a roar of recognition from the crowd. Moments like Zinc’s bootleg of Killing Me Softly being mixed perfectly into Aphrodite’s mix of Don’t Believe the Hype, and stabbing in a few bars of his True Blue Mix Jungle Brothers are not about to be forgotten. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an entire room sing along to the super-fast lyrics of Original Nutta before. At this point the heat was forgotten as the dancefloor yelled and screamed, moshed, bounced, stepped, and generally got down to the stream of classic moments on offer.
All too suddenly, Aphrodite finished his set with the bud-heavy track Smoke Dog and many of us were left sweaty, exhausted, and wondering what the hell just happened. But within moments Mickey Finn was behind the decks and the party seemed in good hands. At this point I chose to exit before I gave myself heatstroke and I wandered in the surprisingly cold night air inspired by the soulful sounds of Nu:Tone and enthused by Aphrodite’s old school brilliance. A timeline of Drum’n’Bass at its finest, and only twenty-five bucks.